Obituary of Alisa Chalmers Van Dissen

Family and friends are mourning the loss of a wonderful, fun, devoted spouse, mom, sister, relative, friend, who was a vibrant gal about town! Alisa passed away after 1 ½ years of treatment for Ovarian Cancer, she was 58 years old. Alisa lived a large life full of joy and continued to savor every moment in spite of her cancer. She passed away at home with her loving family by her side.
Alisa was born in Newport Beach, CA on March 22nd and came into her parents arms on March 25th. She attended local grade school and high school in Saratoga before moving to the Santa Cruz County area in the late 1980’s. Alisa earned her bachelor’s degree in Recreation Therapy (of course she did!) from San Jose State University. She has been a resident of Aptos for over 25 years and leaves countless friends from so many walks of life, whom she loved and felt blessed to have had in her life.
You were all special to her. Alisa is survived by her Kirkwood mountain community, the local LGBTQ community, and her vast sports community. She was an avid and accomplished skier from a very young age, and was also a competitive swimmer as a child. Alisa was athletic, strong, competitive, joyful, and fun in her many pursuits which included surfing, tennis, hiking, biking, and boating. She enjoyed the outdoors to their limits, with a deep love of the Pacific ocean and the high Sierra Mountains. Alisa created a beautiful home environment with her love of gardening, her joy of cooking and her endless entertaining. The fun and fond memories of Alisa will continue to be shared by family and friends. She is also survived by the recovery community, where she touched many lives in a positive way.
For more than 25 years, Alisa worked as a property manager for her family's business. Prior to that she worked as a Recreation Therapist in Monterey County.
Alisa is survived by her wife of 25 years, Carolyn Biddick and their son, Carson Biddick-Van Dissen, both of Aptos. She also leaves her brother, Russell Van Dissen and family of New Zealand.In addition she is survived by her many Biddick relatives both locally and in Sweden and Taiwan, her Chalmers cousins, numerous beloved nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews, and her deeply loved community at large.
A public memorial service will be held at 1 o’clock on Saturday September 24th at Resurrection Church located at 7600 Soquel Dr. Aptos, Ca 95003. A private committal has taken place and any kind acts of charity can be made in her memory to OCRA, Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance at ocrahope.org; or to medicalgiving.stanford.edu and indicate it is for Ovarian Cancer research; or Clearity foundation.org/donate as another place to contribute to as they helped Alisa.